


Barging in on you (nothing new, that's just what I always do)

by orphan_account



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Crushes, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Gardens & Gardening, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Insults, Love at First Sight, My First Work in This Fandom, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Running Away, Slurs, Soulmates, Threats, Threats of Violence, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-02 20:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19449202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Hi, sorry for bargin’ in,” Harleen said as she chuckled nervously, immediately face-palming herself mentally.The other girl rose one eyebrow whilst she left the metallic watering can she was holding on the floor. “I wouldn’t say you’re barging in on me or my garden, not when I opened the door for you after all,” she countered, her voice smooth and low. Harleen licked her dry lips before gulping subtly, not failing to notice the sultriness and sexyness that leaked from the stranger’s vocie. She felt as if she had heard that voice before elsewhere, but she couldn’t remember where or under what circumstances.//AU wherein Harleen Quinzel meets her soulmate once again after running away from the enraged Jack Napier and ending up in a beautiful garden almost in the outskirts of the palace she resided in temporarily.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first work in this fandom and I'm actually slightly scared because I don't know what type of reactions will this story have or trigger, but, despite that, here's my small contribution to this ship I've grown to love dearly in a short period of time. Please enjoy!

With wobbly legs, Harleen Quinzel ran breathlessly throughout the corridors and halls of Arkham Palace, her mind completely blank due to the fear and adrenaline that had pretty much taken over her during the first seconds of her flight. Her ears were ringing and her fiancé’s harsh and cruel vexations were on constant and painfully never-ending repeat within her head.

The blonde gasped when she noticed that she had reached a dead end when the door of the one-way hallway she was in was locked from the outside. “C’mon, c’mon, please,” she whispered as she frantically knocked the door with one hand while she kept the other one upon the handle, desperately moving up and down in vain. The color drained from her face even further when she heard laughter, manic and high-pitched laughter, in the distance yet drawing closer.

Fortunately for her, the door opened almost miraculously after some seconds, and she didn’t hesitate a single moment: she threw herself into whatever place was hidden beneath the previously sealed door and closed it shut with trembling hands only to lock it when her eyes noticed the two locks that were settled over the handle. As she placed her forehead on the wooden door, she allowed herself to sigh although it ended up sounding more like a painful gasp since a sob had tore through her shaky lips.

“That… That was close,” Harleen mumbled to herself as she tried to regain her breath. Overwhelming fatigue started to make itself present within her body when the adrenaline vanished when some instances passed, yet she was soon in alert once more at the sound of an uncertain hum behind her.

Stiffly, she turned around only to find a redheaded girl staring at her with wide, beautiful green eyes and surprise written all over her face. The girl was awfully gorgeous, Harleen thought, as well as breathtaking. She had long, blood-red, slightly curled hair, a trail of freckles adorning both of her cheeks and her nose. Her facial features were sharp yet softness reigned over her face, and to top it all, her body was curvy in such a maddening and sinful way that made Harleen blush, especially when the green, silky shirt she wore embraced her and made her curves even more evident despite the night an its lack of light. For whatever the reason, she looked familiar to her.

“Hi, sorry for bargin’ in,” Harleen said as she chuckled nervously, immediately face-palming herself mentally.

The other girl rose one eyebrow whilst she left the metallic watering can she was holding on the floor. “I wouldn’t say you’re barging in on me or my garden, not when I opened the door for you after all,” she countered, her voice smooth and low. Harleen licked her dry lips before gulping subtly, not failing to notice the sultriness and sexyness that leaked from the stranger’s voice. She felt as if she had heard that voice before elsewhere, but she couldn’t remember where or under what circumstances.

The blonde stammered, fidgeting as she tried to come up with the appropriate words to say even if her mind was now racing and indecisive. The redheaded girl took advantage of that and approached Harleen slightly with her arms crossed over her chest, hips swinging sensually as she stepped closer.

“Anyway, what brings you here?” Her tone didn’t hold any single ounce of demand or anger, but curiosity and slight preoccupation.

Harleen scratched her neck nervously, a bad habit she had acquired after living in Arkham Palace for almost a year and a half. “I was runnin’ away… From Jack.”

At that, the red-haired girl’s expression fell, worry and empathy sparkling from her impossibly green eyes as she examined Harleen intently.

“Jack as in Jack Napier, Prince of Gotham and heir of this crumbling kingdom?” She questioned, already knowing the answer yet receiving a short and quick nod as a response. “That scumbag, what did he do now?” she whispered under her breath so softly that the blonde didn’t quite catch what she had just said.

“E-Either way, who are ya?” Harleen asked with thick, clodhopper —as Jack had not so gently called it,— accent prominent in her voice before she could even notice or try to hide it.

The other girl lowered her head and ran her left hand through her red curls, briefly taken away by the cutesy accent, before clearing her throat and locking eyes with the blonde. “Pamela Lillian Isley, experienced botanist and Arkham Palace’s unofficial gardener.”

“Oh, nice to meetcha!” She replied with an earnest yet small smile before introducing herself to Pamela. “I’m Harleen Frances Quinzel, one of Gotham’s many weavers and—”

“ **_HARLEEN!_ **” A furious scream interrupted her introduction, sending shivers down her spine and making her mouth run dry in a split second. Even Pamela recoiled at the piercing exclamation, her eyes moving from Harleen’s to the door behind her.

“Open up, you little bitch, I **_know_ **you’re here!” Jack yelled in pure rage as he punched the door from the other side of the place. The blonde, moved by pure fear, ran away from where she stood and positioned herself behind Pamela.

None of them moved a single bit after that, and chose to stay frozen in place as the knocks grew louder and louder, until another scream was heard. “Is this how you treat your future husband, you hideous slut? C’mere, now, or I’ll kick the fucking door down and kill you!”

Pamela gulped and turned her head around. “To your left there are some dense bushes of narcissus which are covering a small hole that leads to the palace’s larder. You should be able to crawl your way through without a single problem, since you’re more petite than I am.” Pamela whispered, her gaze soft but her fists curled up together in sheer rage. “ _Go!_ ”

Harleen nodded, but before walking away from Pamela, she mumbled “thank you so much, Red,” before kissing her cheek and running towards the bushes of narcissus, finding her way through easily.

Pamela inhaled deeply and went to the door again, this time enraged and afraid unlike when she had gone there to unlock it for Harleen, and opened it, finding Jack with an animalistic expression evident in his face.

“Out of my way!” He yelled before pushing Pamela and making her fall hard to the floor, although she recovered quickly.

“If you’re looking for that girl, she left the garden as soon as she saw me. What have you even done to her this time to make her be frightened to death?” Pamela asked harshly as she saw how Jack eyed the entirety of her garden skeptically. It made her sick to her stomach to have him over her sanctuary.

“What I do is none of your business, got that, _little sister_?” Pamela tsk’d at the nickname, rolling her eyes as she chuckled dryly.

“Get off your high horse, Jack. We both know that you’re an abusive asshole that always, **always** , hurts the people that manage to love you and that you enjoy every single second of it.” Before she could even get smug, Jack punched Pamela right in the face, in her freckled nose. Blood started to ooze, and everything began to smell like iron, but she didn’t care.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? I don’t think that’s the way to talk to the prince of Gotham and its heir,” Jack hissed as he approached her.

“I am as much of a heiress as you are, even if you don’t want to admit it. Mother said in her deathbed that both of us were the lawful heirs of Gotham, and Father stated the exact same thing before you poisoned his meal!”

Jack smiled, it was wide and creepy, psychotic even, but Pamela didn’t back away, not even when Jack slapped her across the face.

“Shut the Hell up. You’re fucking adopted, you don’t have the right to say those things or call my parents like that.” Jack stated calmly, way too calmly for Pamela’s liking, before kicking her in the gut.

Pamela chuckled breathlessly as she embraced herself. “Oh, it seems that I touched a nerve, I’m so sorry…” She coughed, but kept staring at Jack. “Actually? No, I am not.” Pamela laughed, nearly hit again by Jack. “Is that why you try to seduce every woman you deem pretty, Jack? Because you’re afraid to lose this crumbling kingdom to me? Because you know that the first thing I’d do would be to lock you away for murder and abuse, and then put an end to the havoc you’ve wrecked?”

“As if that were to happen! Nobody wants you, Pammy, not a single men, and there’s nothing you can do about that. Besides, my guards won’t let you step a foot out of the place and that’s a fact you know all too well.” Jack stated, combing his black hair with shaky fingers. “I will marry Harleen and then get rid of you as soon as I’m Gotham’s new king. This entire place will be mine, as it should have always been. After disposing of you, the first thing I’m going to do is burn this garden down. Mark my words, _sister_.”

After that, and a final punch to Pamela’s left temple, Jack left the place taking large steps and sneering as he returned to the palace.

Pamela sighed and let herself fall to the floor, covering her eyes with one arm when she felt the comforting vegetation underneath her. She completely missed the soft footsteps that were drawing in to where she was lying.

“You’re that hooded girl, aren’t ya?” Harleen’s inquiring voice got Pamela getting up from the floor quickly and unceremoniously. “The one who I see sometimes sneaking out of the palace, walking around the market, helping the merchants from time to time...”

“I thought I had told you to get out of here, Harleen.” Pamela said, dodging the question and the statement despite knowing that deep in their hearts, they both knew that Harleen was right.

“You did, but I didn’t. I just… I kept hidden in between the flowers, observin’ and listenin’ to everything. Guess he didn’t notice because my hair is the same colour as the flowers.”

“You’re a human-sized daffodil,” Pamela whispered, although this time Harleen did listen her words and chuckled.

“Daffodil? I like it.”

Pamela blushed and stared at her hands, then sighed. “Back to your question, yes, I am the hooded girl you’ve seen around a couple of times. As you must have heard, I am not allowed to get out of the place, so I have to find and make one subtle getaway myself.”

“Y’know… The only reason why I haven’t gotten the Hell outta here is because I was too curious about you to leave the place. I always had… Some sort of hunch regarding you. I felt as if you were the one I was meant to be with. ”

Pamela let out a dry chuckle again. “So you’ve endured mistreatment and vexations for more than you could have for someone you didn’t even know just because of a hunch that could still be false? That’s… That’s crazy.”

Harleen shrugged but leant in to wipe some blood from Pamela’s face. “I’ve never been the most rational person either way.”

The redheaded girl shook her head after hissing, Harleen had unknowingly touched the spot where a nasty bruise was going to bloom. “What did he do to you to make you run away from him?”

The blonde shrank in herself before replying in a hushed whisper. “He wanted to force me into stuff I didn’t wanna, I tried to tell him no, he hit me, I kicked him where it hurts, I ran away from him and I ended up here.”

Pamela hummed, white teeth biting down her lower, rosy lip. She seemed to be pondering something, since she remained silent for a considerable amount of time. “Was meeting me worth the pain and abuse?”

“Ya could say so. I don’t really know ya, but I already feel safe when I’m around you. Besides,” Harleen pushed Pamela gently down until the redhead was lying on the floor again and positioned herself on her hips, “I feel like I’ve already spent a life, if not many, with ya.”

Pamela’s heart fluttered, but she didn’t complain. “Is that so?” She questioned, a foreign feeling running through her system pumped wildly by her heart. When she had faced Jack for Harleen, she had felt some sort of déjà vu flooding her reasoning, as if that was something she had already done that _at least_ once in a past life.

Harleen nodded as she caressed Pamela’s injured temple. The latter squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled shakily. “Even if that’s the case, you don’t know me, Harl—”

The blonde hushed her and placed a finger over Pamela’s lips, a soft look on her face. “I don’t know ya _yet_ , Red. I do want to, though…”

“Daffodil...” the nickname tore easily and unashamed through her lips, and Pamela didn’t even regret saying it unknowingly.

“He will kill us both if we stay here, I have no doubts and lots of proofs.” Harleen stated softly so that she wouldn’t bring the mood down. Pamela hummed but didn’t say anything. “So, I have a suggestion for ya.”

That caught Pamela’s attention and made her rise both eyebrows, her eyes gleaming with pure curiosity that could be compared to that of a kid when given a present or discovering something new.

“I lived in a small house above my clothing store before I met Jack… We could go there, the two of us,” she whispered fondly, then adding something when she saw how Pamela’s eyes lingered around her garden. “Don’t worry, there is a small garden behind the building… It could use a bit of your green hand, to be honest, and maybe you could bring in some seeds or plants.”

“He’d eventually find us.” Pamela said, her voice wavering and uncertain.

“If we tell everyone who you really are, I’m sure they’d help us somehow. Every citizen hates Jack, and as far as I’ve seen, you’re always helping around when ya manage to sneak out of here.”

The conviction in Harleen’s voice was enough to make Pamela back down even though she wasn’t entirely convinced herself. The desire to be actually free again was something that she couldn’t swallow and hide anymore as well, after all.

“I know it’s too soon to ask you this, I mean… Ya said it yourself, we don’t know each other… At least not yet, but…” Harleen trailed off, and Pamela giggled.

“Kiss me.” The redheaded girl gasped out those two words softly, speaking up their thoughts for both of them.

“Gladly.” Harleen said before leaning in and meeting Pamela’s rosy lips with her own. They were soft as petals, sweet as nectar, yet intoxicating as venom itself although in a good way she couldn’t quite explain herself. Soon they both found themselves kissing the other as if their lives depended on it, as if the other’s lips were oxygen and they were completely out of breath.

The entire garden seemed to sigh delightfully as the two young adults kissed, their souls dancing together like old lovers —older than time itself,— that had finally reunited despite the hardships that had been thrown at them. The entire garden seemed to find peace when the two girls separated from each other yet remained close, foreheads and the tips of their nose touching, looking into each other’s eyes as if they were learning how to live for the first time in years.


	2. Sequel

Her exhausted and aching body was yearning, practically screaming, for a long, hot bath now that she had finally finished every single one of her duties, and so, Harleen pushed the bathroom door opened eagerly.

However, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Pamela in the bathtub, staring at her with a wide grin and giggling softly. The blonde couldn’t help but blush when she realized that the red-haired woman was naked. 

“Hey, Red,” she said, laughing nervously. “Sorry for bargin’ in, I didn’t know you were here. I can leave if you want me to.” 

Pamela shook her head, amusement sparkling within her green eyes as she stared at Harleen. “Daffodil, we’ve been married for practically five years now,” Pamela reminded her, tilting her head to the left. “One would think that by now you would have stopped being nervous around me and my naked body.” 

Harleen rolled her eyes with a big smile adorning her face, walking towards Pamela, who was signaling her to come closer with her right index finger. “I can’t help it, y’know? You’re drop dead gorgeous and insanely attractive.” At that, Pamela blushed, although her seductive façade remained untouched despite the redness that now decorated her cheeks.

“Care to join me?” The redhead asked, her hands gripping the edge of the tub as she pushed herself slightly upwards to meet Harleen’s lips in a sweet and brief kiss.

The blonde didn’t answer verbally, choosing to take off her clothes quickly and entering the bathtub carefully, something in-between a moan and a groan escaping her lips when the hot water embraced her. 

“I have seen you naked  _ so _ many times, I have even memorized every freckle and scar that is on your skin, yet whenever I see you without any clothes on I cannot help but think the same thing I did when I first saw you.” Pamela absentmindedly commented as she moved towards Harleen, sitting on her lap and cupping her cheeks when they literally were almost face to face.

“And that is?” Harleen questioned, remembering the first time she’d been time she had been naked around Pamela and just how loved and worshipped she had felt at the end of the night.

“That I’m so lucky to have met you all those years ago, even if I’m reluctant to admit that it was thanks to Jack.” Pamela stated, caressing Harleen’s cheeks with her thumbs. After some seconds, she leant in and whispered into her left ear huskily, “that, and that I am so in love with you.”

Harleen giggled, blushing even brighter as Pamela left chaste kisses below her lobe, her jaw and her neck before pulling away and staring at Harleen with lovestruck eyes.

“I’m in love with ya too, Pammy.” The blonde whispered fondly, her hands resting on Pamela’s hips. “And I’m so glad that I didn’t run away from here even when I could because of that hunch I had.”

“So am I, Daffodil.” Pamela kissed Harleen once more, softly and sweetly just like the first time they had kissed one another but without the desperation it also held. “Thank you for finding me, Harl.” She mumbled against the blonde’s lips blissfully.

“Thank you for letting me in, Pam-a-lamb.” Harleen replied caressing the tip of Pamela’s nose with her own softly, love running through her system, mirth bubbling in her chest. 

Judging by Pamela’s expression, the redhead felt the exact same way as she did, and for that she was grateful. Harleen relaxed into Pamela’s touch, her heart, mind and soul feeling at home, a home that went by the name of ‘Pamela Lillian Isley’.   
  
  
  
  



End file.
